Webitty

Papa Murphy's Messed Up My Pizza and You Won't Believe What Happened Next

2011-04-05T10:10:00.000-04:00

I tried Papa Murphy's Take 'N' Bake pizza for the first time recently. There is a new location near my home and they mailed coupons. I decided to give them a try and went there with my daughter. We ordered a Chicago-Style Stuffed™ and my daughter asked if we could get it without onions. It seemed like a small sacrifice so, "no onions" was added to the order. We were made aware of a special and added two dessert choices for $5 to our order. I was also able to use a coupon for $2 off the price of our stuffed pizza.

There were several orders ahead of ours and we sat down to wait. It was interesting to watch the pizzas being made and soon I found myself studying their technique. After a few minutes I guessed at which pizza was ours and watched as it was prepared. I decided I must have guessed wrong when the onions were added. Then something incredible happened. The young man making our pizza realized his mistake. What do you think happened next?

I half expected him to try and pick the onions off the pizza. Thankfully that didn't happen. When I saw him go and check with someone else I thought the situation would be explained and maybe I'd get a couple more dollars off. Nope. They called me over and apologized. Not for the onions. They apologized that we would be waiting for them to remake our pizza. It was never a consideration to take the pizza with onions. They immediately set out to make it right. Again apologizing that we had to wait. I was impressed and very happy at the great customer service I received from Papa Murphy's. When our new pizza was finished I went to the counter to pick it up and received another apology. Then as we were leaving we were given a Cheesy Bread because we had to wait. I didn't think we had been waiting long but it looked really yummy so we took it anyway. As we walked to our car I couldn't get over how much food we got for only $15. Baking the pizza at home was fun and everything tasted delicious.

Mistakes Happen

People make mistakes. That is simply a fact of life. How you react after you make a mistake says a lot about a person. How a business treats a customer when a mistake occurs says a lot about the business. I had never been to a Papa Murphy's before this happened. Because they mailed me a coupon they convinced me to give them a try. Because they went out of their way to make me a satisfied customer I will definitely go again.

Papa Murphy's messed up my pizza and then made me a loyal customer by treating me right.

Why Are Food Trucks So Much Fun?

2011-03-25T13:05:00.047-04:00

I got to eat from a new food truck for lunch today. It was the first time I saw The Fast Italian and I am so glad I gave it a try. They have great service and I really enjoyed the food. It was also the best deal I've had for lunch in quite a while. For only $5.75 I got a sandwich, potato salad, chips, cookie, water, and a mint. It doesn't look like @theFASTitalian is tweeting much so I hope I can learn how to keep track of the truck's location.

The excitement of trying a new food truck made me wonder why I like food from a truck as much as I do. My theory is it reminds me of getting a childhood thrill from the ice cream truck coming to my neighborhood. What can be more exciting? Somehow in my brain food from a truck taps into that same feeling.

What About Restaurants Without Wheels?

I think it helps me feel special that most of the food truck vendors I run into own the truck. They really do care about my business. I make a real difference to them and they let me know. Some restaurants have employees that do a great job and work hard to earn a nice tip. As good a job as they do it isn't the same feeling as when the restaurant owner stops by your table and checks on you. I think that is part of the food truck experience. At that moment in time when I stand at the window and place my order I am the most important person to the vendor in that truck. Often times it is the same person that takes my order and makes my order and serves my order. There is no passing the buck. Except from my wallet to theirs.

Maybe it is the personal service. Maybe it is a childhood memory. Likely it is a combination of both. Any way you want to look at it I really do think food trucks are fun.

The Future is Social and Integrated

2011-03-21T13:10:00.000-04:00

I've been waiting for Google to make a big splash in the social space. In fact, the original inspiration for this blog was iGoogle Social Features. What seems to be working for Google isn't the big news items like Wave or Buzz. Google has put several pieces together and until recently I didn't see the whole picture. Then I went to Taco Loco.

While eating lunch I used my Android phone to check in at Taco Loco in Google Latitude. After checking in, Latitude prompted me to review the restaurant in Google HotPot which I did. At the end of the review HotPot asked me if I wanted to post it on Twitter. I thought why not and let HotPot send a tweet. My tweets are picked up by Google Buzz. It wasn't until sometime later that I noticed the tweet contained a link to the Google Places page for Taco Loco.

Android
Latitude
HotPot
Twitter
Buzz
Places

All of the above, except Twitter, are Google projects. Individually I think only Android is a significant game changer. Having seen them work well together firsthand I think Google has found real synergy. The whole is more than the parts. Integration is the secret sauce. By making it easy on me they not only got me to post a review but also broadcast it.

If You Can, Please Donate to Help Japan

2011-03-16T10:50:00.000-04:00

You can find information on what is happening and how you can help through this page at Google Crisis Response:
2011 Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami

Pledge Signed, Debt Crushed

2011-03-11T10:49:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Adaptu and Man vs. Debt I have crushed $1,000 of debt. I think I signed the pledge just because I like the way it sounds to crush debt. Had I been asked to pledge to payoff debt or reduce debt it may have gone unheeded. To crush debt, now that sounds more like it.

How I Crushed Debt

I signed the pledge after I discovered Adaptu. I had some questions about the community and the community manager, Jenna, stopped by Webbity and answered them. That was pretty cool. It really inspired me to follow through on my pledge. It just so happens this is the time of year I receive an annual bonus at work. My wife and I decided to use it to pay off the balance on our home equity line of credit.

Now What?

Although I haven't found the time to further explore Adaptu, I intend to. I am looking forward to trying out the financial planning tools available to the community and participating in the discussions.

Play Soccer Like A Twelve Year Old Girl

2011-03-04T14:15:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow I coach my first soccer game. I have coached before but I wasn't the head coach. I used to help out as an assistant coach. There have been a couple of games when the head coach wasn't available and I filled in. So I have coached other times. Still, tomorrow will be my first game.

The Most Powerful Force In The Universe

I am lucky enough to coach a wonderful group of U13 girls. For the uninitiated that means on a specific date last Summer they were all 12 years old. If you ever want to witness something truly amazing just find a group of a dozen or so 12 year old girls united by a common purpose. They can simultaneously be selfless, fearless, and hilarious. They play to have fun. They aren't weighed down by the problems of the world. In fact, they will likely solve them one day. Mentally and physically they are more mature than boys their age. They run fast. They kick hard. They knock you down if you get in the way. Then they genuinely apologize and help you up. They listen to their referee, coach, teammates, parents, and friends. They text like there is no tomorrow.

I know they will grow up. I know the world will change them.

I hope they always play soccer like a 12 year old girl.

Adaptu - Have You Tried It?

2011-03-02T10:58:00.000-05:00

I was reading a post from a personal financial blog and noticed an ad from Adaptu. The ad caught my attention because it was asking for a pledge to eliminate $1,000 in debt. Seems like a good thing to do but why is it a good thing to spend money to advertise? I was shocked when I clicked through to the landing page and found the simplest form I have ever seen online. It asked for First Name and Zip Code. That is all the information they ask for when you take the pledge. How are they going to market to me with just my first name and zip code? Are they really doing this for me, not to collect information about me? How are they going to sell me anything? Why is this worth advertising?

Who Are You Adaptu?

Maybe I am overly skeptical, I like to think of it as appropriately careful, but who set up this site and is it really for the benefit of the community it serves? From the About Us page:

Adaptu is a new, free online financial life planning and management service. Members of Adaptu can create a personalized view of their financial life and engage with a community to help take a more active role in the financial decisions that will affect their lives.

Wow, that sounds really nice. Several words in that paragraph resonate with me: free, personalized, community, help, decisions. I make financial decisions that affect my life. I'd like free help from a community.

Where's the catch?

I know that online communities aren't free to operate. There is a cost. I know that businesses work to provide a good or service at a price that allows them to make a profit after paying their costs. So who profits from Adaptu? Again from the About Us page:

Adaptu is a wholly-owned subsidiary of StanCorp Financial Group Inc. The Standard has a 100+ year legacy of helping become more financially secure so they can confidently pursue their dreams. Adaptu shares that common cause and is continuing to push this legacy in a new way.

Other than leaving a word or two out of that description it sounds pretty good. I expect they mean that they help people become blah, blah, blah. I haven't created an account yet. I am impressed by this method of promoting a Financial Services company. I would like to know what others think of this community. Have you tried it? Please let me know what you think in the comments.

Progress Energy to the Rescue

2011-02-27T16:52:00.002-05:00

What happens when an electrical transformer in your front yard faults? In my case they show up less than two hours later with a new one.

I Am Number Four

2011-02-25T10:07:00.000-05:00

I saw that Google has revised their search algorithm in an effort to decrease the significance of content farms. I didn't expect this to have much, if any, impact on my quest to be the number one Ed Tennant but I checked anyway. I don't credit it to the algorithm change but I have moved up a spot. This site is now the fourth search result for ed tennant. It seems like I was stuck at number five for a long time but it has only been two months since the experiment started.

In two months I have been able to move www.webitty.com from nowhere to number four in Google search results for the keyword ed tennant. Considering there is very little competition for this keyword my results may not be that great. I feel good about it because I am not an SEO expert. If I used a URL containing the keyword I expect it would be a fast rise to number one. Since that isn't always a possibility I want to rank for a keyword without it in the URL.

How I Did It

All of the things I have done to impact search results are quite simple and zero cost. I updated all of the web pages to include the keyword by adding it to the content in the page header used throughout the site. I added the keyword to the page titles throughout the site. I added the keyword to the description used on every page. Having every page description be the same is not a good solution. I need to continue to look into other possibilities for that piece of metadata. The biggest change is making comments on other sites and linking them to www.webitty.com with the link text Ed Tennant.

Video Killed the Radio Star

2011-02-16T11:33:00.001-05:00

Today Borders filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Everybody points the finger at Amazon when a brick-and-mortar book retailer has trouble. It seems to make sense to blame virtual stores when physical stores fail. I'm not sure whether it is electronic commerce or the electronic book that has brought the United States second largest bookseller to this point. Either way it makes me wonder about the consequences of new inventions. How many buggy makers went out of business when Henry Ford began producing the horseless carriage? How many employees will lose their jobs because Borders plans to close 30 percent of their store locations?

I work in an industry that is rapidly declining due to the Internet. Online advertising is replacing print. I look at the music industry to try and study a similar transformation. It isn't identical but you can find common themes. Music has been sold on many different media since it was first recorded. Although it wasn't the first form of recorded music, the album lasted the longest. Eventually, vinyl gave way to tape in order to be more portable and tape gave way to compact disc to be more durable. Behind the scenes, analog was replaced by digital as the media evolved. During this time the music companies and the distribution channel stayed intact.

Enter iTunes

Apple changed the music industry by removing the media. Then they changed it again by becoming the distribution channel. Who is to blame that your local record store closed? Not Apple, it is the fault of people who stopped shopping there. It is certainly more complicated than this but in the simplest form no business can survive without customers. The musicians are still making music and the record companies are still around but this transformation wasn't just to a different media. This time it really was different. Now you can create and sell the product without a physical manifestation. Without an item to manufacture, ship, store, display, and hand to customers there has been a drastic change take place.

Not Just a Different Media

The Print Advertising industry initially viewed the Internet as a new media. Just like recorded music moved from cassette to CD, what was originally transferred to paper could simply be transferred online. You can look at electronic phone books that are identical to the print version. The media changed but the product remained the same. Behind the scenes the production process changed over to digital but the product did not evolve. Eventually the publishers came to realize that Google had created a new and different marketplace. At least as different as iTunes is from the record store. Don't be confused; advertisers are still advertising and consumers are still viewing advertisements. Just like there are still musicians making music and people continue to listen to it. The difference is that record companies still create the product that is sold through iTunes. Apple didn't start signing acts or producing songs. Google did.

When Google created the new online marketplace it removed the necessity of the publishing company. An advertiser can't print their own Yellow Pages ad but they sure can make their own Adwords ad. So is it Google's fault that the Print Advertising industry is dying? No, it isn't. It is the same people who quit shopping at the record store. Google is not to blame for people who don't want to read the Yellow Pages. Google didn't kill print advertising, people killed print advertising. What Google is doing to the industry is killing the equivalent of the record companies.

Another Reason to Write Online Reviews

2011-02-14T10:15:00.000-05:00

I just discovered a great reason to write online reviews. If you forget which service provider you used in the past you can find them again through your own review. I need someone to look at my clothes dryer. It makes a horrible racket and is getting louder every time I use it. Problem is I use it on Sundays and that isn't the best day to track down an appliance repairman. So this has been going on for awhile and getting worse over time. I finally remembered on a weekday that I need to get it fixed. Armed with my Android powered smart phone I launched Dex and searched for appliance repair in my city. The first listing had a 5 star review and the name seemed familiar. I clicked to read the review and found out I had written it after they fixed our dishwasher. Guess who I called about the dryer?

Now I think of online reviews as a trail of breadcrumbs. They help me find my way back to businesses that I don't use very often but provide good service.

Do you leave online reviews?

Snatching Nickels From the Steamroller's Path

2011-02-08T15:18:00.000-05:00

Competition for local advertising is increasing at a remarkable pace. A small business owner can have a mobile ad campaign with little money and almost no effort: Google Boost: Now Appearing On Mobile Phones - Google Small Business.

I don't know if he invented it but Joel Spolsky was the first I heard use the phrase about snatching nickels. He was referring to small shops that were filling gaps in a larger vendor's platform. Sooner or later the vendor fills the need and poof goes the business model of the small shop.

I think Google has managed to make a good start at doing sort of the opposite. Google has crept into the local advertising market with such a broad offering that it makes the incumbents look like niche players. They may very well displace multiple billion dollar businesses as they continue to expand their ability to service local advertisers. By providing Adwords, YouTube, Places, Hotpot, and Boost Google is becoming a one-stop shop for local online and mobile advertising.

Look at the year over year revenues of all the print advertisers that cater to local businesses. They are shrinking, getting smaller, growing backwards, declining, and falling. To make it easy on you just scan the newly created BIA/Kelsey Local Media Index. Notice the direction that Yellow Pages companies are going. Notice the direction that online local companies are going. For the time being, Google is actually counted as online advertising and search. Obviously they make a huge portion of their revenue from search but I bet more and more of that has a local flavor.

For a Yellow Pages company to survive they must be able to compete for local advertising dollars. If those dollars are being spent for a different media than the print Yellow Pages then companies must offer more than print advertising solutions. The offerings it seems they must provide are online. Right in the middle of the path of the Google steamroller.

Android Market Website is Terrific

2011-02-04T14:14:00.000-05:00

Introducing the Android Market website - Official Google Mobile Blog

Sometimes when there is a gaping hole and it gets filled the fix seems to leave some room around the edges like it wasn't quite enough. Not so with the new web version of the Android Market. It worked perfectly for me the first time and I really appreciate the easy access to information about the apps. The installs are seamless and they have done an excellent job of filling a major hole in the Android app distribution strategy.

Since I am an AT&T customer I was nervous of a different version of the Android Market. My carrier blocks installs from anywhere but the official store. No problem at all. Google is really getting it together and this is a step in the right direction. I love my Android phone.

Webitty Goes Mobile Again

2011-02-03T14:29:00.002-05:00

Blogger released an Android app and this is the first post from my phone.

Google Search Promotes Google Profile Using Google Buzz

2011-01-10T12:14:00.001-05:00

I searched Google for Ed Tennant to check the progress of my SEO experiment. The results were shocking. Out of nowhere my Google profile page ranks higher than this blog. My Google profile isn't even filled out. I don't remember seeing my Google profile page in the previous results. Now it ranks number five.

This is a little frustrating considering I have been trying to increase this site's ranking for my name. The earlier blog post with my name in the title did make it onto the first page of search results. The Webitty home page is strangely absent. So where did this sudden increase in ranking of my Google profile page come from? My theory is Google Buzz. Google Buzz reposts my activity from Twitter, Linkedin, and this blog. Every item begins with my name which is a link to my Google profile page.

Dining Out in Wake Forest, NC

2011-01-07T12:01:00.000-05:00

Where can you find one restaurant with both Collards and Spiedies on the menu? Or how about Shrimp and Grits plus Bangers and Mash? I'm not sure how they pull it off but it all comes together wonderfully at Wakefied Tavern. Although it took a long time they are finally open. They redecorated the space beautifully. I ate there for the first time last night and really enjoyed it.

They have a good beer selection and I was especially pleased to see Big Boss Brewing Company well represented among the taps. The menu is like none other I've ever seen, and I mean that in a good way. The variety of dishes goes from southern to northern then all the way across the pond. Seriously, Grit Cakes and Irish Bacon coming from the same kitchen is something I hadn't experienced before. I am definitely up for experiencing Wakefield Tavern again.

Spicy Chicken Biscuit

2011-01-05T09:16:00.000-05:00

Chick-fil-A gave me one of their new spicy chicken biscuits this morning for free. It was very good. As enjoyable as the biscuit was there is more to pay attention to in this promotion. They have done a better job at giving away a lot of free food than some of their competitors. It is nice to see a company learn from another's mistakes. For this promotion you have to make a reservation. There is a limit of how many they will give away each hour. Smart. They didn't try to avoid giving away a whole lot of biscuits for free, they just made sure they could meet the demand. Good job Chick-fil-A. Good spicy chicken biscuit too.

Ranking for Ed Tennant

2010-12-22T12:36:00.000-05:00

I read a great blog post that motivated me to work on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Neil Patel's post, The Secret to Learning SEO, reviews Free SEO Report and explains the result very well. I tried it myself and the report is impressive. In my case it was also disappointing. I am Ed Tennant but this web site did not rank well for my name as a keyword. In fact www.webitty.com was not even on the first page of Google results for Ed Tennant. My LinkedIn profile and my Twitter profile both ranked near the top but my blog was nowhere to be seen. Truth be told my other blog, All the Way to the Beginning, was at the bottom of the first page of search results but I'd like this site to be at the top.

The # 1 Ed Tennant

My goal is to be at or near the top of Google search results for my name. I hope that doesn't sound too conceited. My ego isn't the driving factor. This is a way to learn how to rank well in search results for a keyword. My name is one keyword with very little competition.

Moving On Up

The short term results are encouraging. I have seen www.webitty.com on the first page of search results already. Since my name isn't a very popular keyword I picked a good example. Once I learn more about this subject I'll revisit the topic and report my overall results.

Slippin' Sliders is Delicious

2010-12-21T13:11:00.000-05:00

If you happen to be in the Triangle area of NC keep an eye out for the Slippin' Sliders food truck. You can't miss the bright blue truck and you don't want to miss the great food. You can check out the Slippin' Sliders website for some of their small sandwich creations but to find where the truck is parked you should probably follow @slippinsliders on Twitter.

Webitty Goes Mobile

2010-12-20T11:30:00.000-05:00

A new mobile template has been enabled for this blog. Check out how great it looks on your Android powered phone. At least it does on mine. Did I mention I have a new Samsung Galaxy S phone? So far I am really happy with it and hope to do more in the mobile space now that I own an Android phone.

Premonition of Despair

2010-12-08T11:20:00.000-05:00

A week ago I flipped my Demotivator® calendar over to the new month. For December the wise people at Despair, Inc selected “Worth”.

The next day my closest colleague, and a couple hundred more, lost his job due to a reduction in force.

Getting Personal

2010-12-07T14:08:00.001-05:00

This blog started as a place to record my discoveries in the area of Social Media. At work I was helping to establish an internal social network. I was a great project. Then it stalled. So the role of community manager that I was looking forward to filling never happened. This blog sat idle for some time. Recently I realized a need to renew my professional networking activities. I hope this site will function as an online view into who I am and what I am about.

There was a time I tried to hide from Google. I didn’t want my business on the web. Every site was a separate profile and disconnected from any other. At some point I came to believe that almost everyone is going to have a web presence whether they want it or not. I set out to feed what I wanted to the Internet. My goal was to provide enough information to satisfy the pre-interview Google search. “Who is this guy and why should we bring him in to talk with us in person?” Now it is likely that when you find me online you see multiple accounts because the LinkedIn profile points to the blog that links to Twitter that refers to this site.

What I haven’t added is the personal side. I’m not on Facebook. Imagine that. I may join one day but I may not. So how do you know what football team I like? Heck, when I say football do I mean the game played with a round ball or a pointy one? So this site is going to become less worried about professional appearances and more willing to express personal opinions.

Social Media Success

2009-11-24T12:56:00.002-05:00

How can you tell if your social network is working?

There can be many measures of success for social media. It can make a connection that helps you land a job or make a sale. It can be a channel that enables you to help others. It can build your personal or corporate brand. For a business it can be a marketing channel. Some results of Social Media are tangible while others may be more difficult to measure.

Businesses like to measure what they do and define success as creating more benefit than it costs to provide. The overall goal of any business is to make a profit. There can be many other goals but without this one it no longer qualifies as a business. So when a business sets out to measure success, it is most likely going to go with how much an activity contributes to the bottom line. For some activities this is very difficult to identify. It is easy to calculate the cost of a company social network, but how can profit be determined when there is no direct revenue? Increased productivity and increased employee engagement are benefits of a social network that are difficult to quantify but are very positive outcomes for an enterprise.

Wasting Time Wastes Money

I’ve seen studies that state up to twenty percent of a professional’s time is spent searching for information they need to do their job. If that search time is cut, then more work can be completed in the same amount of time. If the missing information is available from another employee, identifying that person is necessary to complete the task. So how can you discover who knows what? An internal social network can aid in expertise location by identifying individuals who have experience and information helpful to the person searching. The network can also be a channel to tap into that expertise by connecting with the expert and exchanging information. Finding people who have information you need keeps you from wasting time and increases productivity.

Employee Engagement Saves Money

What does it cost to hire a new employee? Obviously the answer can vary greatly between different industries and skill levels but the cost is always significant. Lowering turnover rate directly impacts the cost of hiring new employees because the company is hiring fewer new employees. And the benefits of engaged employees go far beyond the cost savings due to lower turnover. Engaged employees are more likely to represent the company in a positive light. This can influence others to pursue employment with the company or buy the companies products. Engaged employees have more enthusiasm for their work which typically leads to doing a better job. There is a stronger bond and increased loyalty when an employee is highly engaged. A company social network can be a tool for increasing employee engagement. By connecting with other employees individually the company stops being them and becomes us. Corporate culture can be influenced by individuals expressing their thoughts and ideas and others reacting and supporting the ideas. Through a social network colleagues become more than just email addresses in the company directory and individuals form stronger ties to each other and the firm.

Social Media Success

It may be rare to find a specific dollars and cents business case to measure the success of a company social network. Occasionally there will be an example of improved service or timesaving that show a direct cost savings or revenue increase. Those examples are not important. Increasing productivity will be a financial benefit to a company but even that is not the real benefit of lessening wasted time. Which job would you like to have, the one where you spend a day a week looking for stuff, or the one where you tap into your network of colleagues and collaborate to do a better job in a shorter time? A successful social network is one that benefits its users. If your company social network benefits your employees, it’s a success.

There Are No Social Media Sea-Monkeys®

2009-11-13T11:31:00.002-05:00

The 7 Harsh Realities of Social Media Marketing
I read a great post on Copyblogger and it was wonderfully enhanced by one of the comments.

“Unfortunately, there are a few faux gurus selling the equivalent of social media sea monkeys. Just add water, makes its own success!”

It is actually the author’s comment so she deserves the credit for a great article and a great comment. In addition to providing a chuckle, the comparison to Sea-Monkeys® really drove home an important point for me. Social media is not a quick fix. Signing up for an account on Twitter doesn’t accomplish anything. It takes effort just like other marketing takes effort and other effective communication takes effort.

Then Why Bother?

If I still need to work hard to take advantage of the benefits of social media why should I worry about it at all? The answer is Harsh Reality #7 which clearly states, “The conversation will happen with or without you.” It is your choice whether to listen but hiding from what people are saying doesn’t mean it isn’t being said and heard.

What Can I Do About It?

First listen. Then participate. Remember it isn’t easy, there are no social media Sea-Monkeys®.

Blogger Buzz: Coming up Next...

2009-11-10T13:49:00.001-05:00

This Blogger NavBar item sounds much more useful than it used to be. I'm looking forward to using the new feature to discover blogs like mine.

Blogger Buzz: Coming up Next...

LinkedIn Connections Hockey Stick

2009-10-23T08:21:00.002-04:00

Today I hit an inflection point. I’m OK, It didn’t hurt. I connected with someone on LinkedIn who is really connected. Since my post, LinkedIn to More Than a Million, I’ve been watching my LinkedIn network creep up from 1,000,000 people to almost 50,000 more. Today I am connected to 1,814,100+ people on LinkedIn.
I connected with an individual who has more than 5,000 connections. Compared to my 116 connections that is absolutely insane. Now my network is going to explode. Let’s assume that each of his connections has 100 connections (I actually have no idea so this is just an example). That would be 50,000 people that are two degrees away from me. If each of these people make 1 additional connection 50,000 people join my network. That would be equivalent to the entire growth of my network in the past month. I have a feeling things just changed.

For Better or For Worse

Right now I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I expect the connection I made will be great, otherwise I wouldn’t have made it. Since I haven’t experienced a network this large I can’t tell what it means if anything. I am making an effort to do a better job at networking so this could be very helpful. If it is true that it isn’t what you know but who you know, I may have just met a game changer.

Welcome to Moe's Joey Junior

2009-10-16T13:44:00.000-04:00

Moe's Southwest Grill did something right. I just had a new junior size burrito for lunch and it was great. With their regular size I would end up eating just a little too much because I didn't want to waste the last few inches of my burrito. I noticed ads for the new size and today I had the opportunity to try it. As Goldilocks would say, "This one is just right." Thanks Moe's!

EACH Strategy for Social Software

2009-10-02T15:59:00.002-04:00

Forrester Research, Inc. uses a methodology they call POST to help clients properly formulate their social media strategy. Briefly summarized on the Forrester site:

Forrester's POST methodology enables you to make smarter marketing decisions with social technologies. POST is a four-step process:
People. Review your target customer's social behaviors and attitudes.
Objectives. Decide on your social technology goals.
Strategy. Determine how your objectives will change your relationship with customers.
Technology. Choose the appropriate technologies to deploy.

For social media at work we can borrow the methodology and adapt it to quickly work through most of the steps.

Employees

Internal use of social media is focused on the enterprise. This solution is not intended for customers or even partners. The people in this solution are employees.

Accomplish

The purpose of enterprise social software is to improve your organization’s performance. Performance improvement may be realized as increased efficiency and/or higher quality. The objective is what the company wants to accomplish. This is one of the more difficult parts of the EACH strategy.

Collaboration

To work together. Don’t mistake this for what you want to accomplish. Collaboration is not your goal, it is how you will accomplish your goal. The strategy the enterprise will use is employee collaboration. There was some internal debate that this step should be communication. I got tired of arguing with myself and decided that even if it were communication, in order to be social it would have to be collaborative. For instance, I communicate with you by writing this blog. Once you comment, it turns into collaboration.

How?

This step remains the most similar to the POST methodology. Once you have properly determined the first three steps, you are ready to analyze the tools that can be used to implement your strategy. If you want the VP of Sales to communicate with the sales force have her blog. If you want to capture the institutional knowledge of your organization set up a wiki.

It’s So Easy to Say It’s So Hard

2009-09-30T22:30:00.002-04:00

Thinking of the big picture makes enterprise social software very intimidating, almost overwhelming. What do we need? How will it work? Who can we trust? Like any project, it is vital to understand the goals you want to accomplish.

The Purpose of Enterprise Social Software

The primary reason to use social media within a company is to improve quality and efficiency. Isn’t that the reason for all the tools you use at work? Today many individuals work is collaborative. Making it easier to find the right individuals and simpler to work together improves efficiency. Being able to discover experts, and information, that helps you with your current task helps improve quality. A person doesn’t have to struggle to find an answer when they can ask an expert. The purpose is improvement, and this improvement occurs through better communication and collaboration on an as-needed basis.
There are additional benefits and some will be more tangible than others. An organization’s use of social media may help foster a culture that will appeal to potential employees. The use of social tools at a company will influence how the company is perceived, especially by younger workers who are used to the type of interaction the tools enable.

LinkedIn to More Than a Million

2009-09-24T08:20:00.000-04:00

I noticed recently that I am linked to more than a million professionals on LinkedIn. The number of people in my network has been growing since I began using LinkedIn years ago. However, I noticed that within the past few months it was growing at a faster rate and even approaching 1,000,000. I planned to write a blog post on the accelerated growth and my excitement that the number would soon be more than a million. Alas, I waited too long. Within a few days of considering the idea it was too late. I already passed the mark. I've also discovered the rapid increase is continuing.

The thing I find exciting is during the last several months I have added very few connections on LinkedIn. I connect with one or two people a month. So the number of my connections hasn't increased that much but the number of people I am connected to is growing faster and faster. Pretty cool. Building my network has gotten to the point where it grows with or without me. This is a really powerful phenomenon. I have been very particular who I connect with on LinkedIn. I currently have just over 100 connections. If you're not familiar with the way LinkedIn works you have three degrees of separation included in your network. So the group of people you are linked to includes your connections (1st level), their connections (2nd level), and their connections (3rd level). If you have 100 connections and the same is true for each of your 1st level connections that would add up to 10,000 professionals as 2nd level connections. Add in each of their 100 connections and you find your way to 1,000,000 3rd level connections.

Now for some fun. What happens to the number of people you are linked to if you add 1 connection? If that one connection has 100 connections who also have 100 connections you just increased your network by 10,000. If each of your 100 connections added one connection, each with 100 connections, your network would increase by another 10,000 people. This means if everyone added one connection a month you would gain 20,000 new members in your network.

Social Media Suprise

2009-09-17T11:34:00.001-04:00

I happened to fill out an additional field on my Blogger profile. After adding a couple of items to the interest field and saving the update it refreshed to the view profile page and my interests were displayed as links. By clicking on the links, Blogger let me know how many other users had the same interest. That is interesting, pun intended. I discovered more than 80 other Blogger users are interested in Grails, my favorite development framework. A few I was familiar with but the vast majority were new to me. I clicked through to a few profiles and found links to their blogs. I ended up discovering a new blog I really enjoyed, Fermentedly Challenged. You might guess this blog doesn't focus on Grails development but the topic of craft beer is equalling appealling. In case you're wondering, there are over 20,000 Blogger members interested in social media. That was a few too many to click through but it is a fascinating statistic.

After the pleasant suprise of finding other people with similar interests I filled out the ocupation field. The results were not as thrilling. Only 5 Blogger members listed Portal Administrator as their occupation. Oh well. I didn't find any new portal people to add to my network but I did begin to follow @ChipperDave on Twitter. If you are interested in craft beer you may want to do the same.

My Morning DJ is on Twitter

2009-09-14T15:46:00.001-04:00

During my morning commute the DJ mentioned his Twitter account. It shouldn’t have surprised me, he’s always talking about texting and he seems to keep up with technology in general. For some reason it still came as a surprise. He is from old established media, what is he doing using social media? If you want to follow along and find out check out @mikewheless.

Just Don’t Be Friends With Crazy People

2009-09-08T13:17:00.001-04:00

“You’ll be OK, just don’t be friends with crazy people.” That was the advice my colleague gave someone who had just signed up for Facebook. I laughed out loud. I certainly understand why some people don’t participate in social sites. It can seem dangerous to make even more information available to the masses. Isn’t Google frightening enough without adding more personal information to the mix?

My take is to try and feed the web what you want to be there. For years I didn’t make it easy to find out who I really was online. It could still be done but I hesitated to make it obvious. I would use nicknames or handles and seldom posted items with my full name. Now I want people to see that I’m me. Although there are many individuals with the same first and last name who could be confused with me I try to make it easy to see who is behind the short username.

I do understand there can be consequences to being yourself online. As another colleague found out, old girlfriends can find you on Facebook. This might be bad if, as in his case, they are people you would rather not find you. So I think the crazy people advice is right on the money. Be careful about who you associate with online, but be open to meeting new friends. It is easier every day to find like-minded individuals with whom you would enjoy sharing ideas. Search out people you would like to be associated with while being careful to accept as a friend those you know nothing about.

Facebook Knows What You Did Last Summer

2009-09-04T13:32:00.000-04:00

In the column The Medium - Facebook Exodus the author gives several examples of individuals abandoning Facebook. One of the users profiled quit Facebook because after recommending a movie on a different web site she found it had updated her Facebook page. Facebook was spying on her.

I think this is the future of online updates. Google is getting into the game too. You can passively update your friends to let them know what you've been up to online. Several sites already aggregate updates from individual web sites to give a stream of what you been doing. You don't need to post on Twitter that you updated photos on Flickr. Everybody can already see that on FriendFeed. Sooner or later status updates will not be necessary because everything you do online will be available in a feed somewhere.

Social Media at Work in Athletic Department

2009-09-02T12:34:00.001-04:00

NC State designed new basketball uniforms and posted an image to their Twitter home page. The response from fans was so negative that the athletic department decided to scrap the uniforms and go back to something similar to the previous design. It may be embarrassing to some extent but it certainly beats what could have happened if the image hadn't been seen on Twitter. Although the story is being portrayed as making a mistake I think it avoided a much larger one.

Experience: The Blog: Who Matters Most in Social Media? Not You!

2009-08-28T11:19:00.000-04:00

It has been said before but I think it is worth saying again, it isn't the quantity (or frequency) that matters it is the quality. I think this post nails the idea that Social Media is a new medium for communication but communication hasn't necessarily changed.
Experience: The Blog: Who Matters Most in Social Media? Not You!

"Yet"

2009-08-20T22:53:00.005-04:00

Yes it is a weak title for a post but it was all I could write.

Today at work a colleague sent an email to a few people with a link to a blog post about the importance of mobility to social media. Then he went on to express regret that he was emailing the link because he didn't have internal resources that could be used to make the information available to a wider audience in an appropriate manner. It was a perfect example of the opportunity to deploy solutions internally at an organization in order to make information readily available to those who can benefit from it.

When he wrote that he didn't have the tools, all I could answer with was "Yet."

How to Listen to Your Brand (Presentation)

2009-08-19T12:45:00.002-04:00

How to Listen to Your Brand (Presentation)

Check out the post on Mellow Billow to view the presentation.

"Here are some of the highlights:

We found that Yahoo! Pipes is the best engine for brand monitoring on the web, with Google Alerts a close second.

Google News is the best one to monitor keyword on news sites, with Bing a close second.

Both Google Blog Search and Bloglines are great in finding keywords in blog posts.

Twitter Search and BackTweets are crucial in finding out if there are tweets about your brand.

Social Mention is good at finding keywords in comments, with YackTrack a close second."

All the Way to the Beginning: New iGoogle Social Features

2009-08-18T22:29:00.004-04:00

All the Way to the Beginning: New iGoogle Social Features

This is the spark that lead me to create this blog. For the first time I realized the possibility of a passive way to update others. What if you didn't need to post to a social site? What if what you are doing on the Internet just shows up there without you actively posting updates?

I'll be curious to check back in a year and see if this heralded a change in the way social media updates are produced.

Social Media at Work

2009-08-18T03:01:00.003-04:00

Social Media at Work means at least three things to me. How do you get social media to work? How do you use social media for work? How can social media be useful at work?

To answer the first questions requires a "how to". The second question is a "what for". And the third one really gets interesting. Is there a way to deploy social media inside the corporate firewall to better enable employees to create solutions to business problems?

I intend for this blog to record my discoveries as I strive to answer the questions I have about social media at work.

What is Webitty? I don't know yet. So far it is a domain name that was available for registration. I'll see where it goes from here.

Ed Tennant